British organist Gillian Weir offered fans a little of everything last night, during an elegant French program at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul.

Weir, who is among the world’s foremost organists, was in town to close out the regional convention of the American Guild of Organists. And it was a treat to hear her on the Cathedral’s monster Cassvant, probably the best organ in the state.

Weir’s recital was not quite so daring as Paul Jacobs’ showing at the First Baptist Church in America Monday night. But it was composed, polished and oh-so musical. Dame Gillian is a class act.

She opened with a set of works by the Baroque composer Nicolas de Grigny, two splashy dialogues for full organ, flanking a wonderfully soulful and pungent Recit de Tierce en taille. It was playing with a lot of fluidness and freedom, never fussy or mannered.

From there, Weir jumped right to modern times with some selections from Olivier Messiaen, the Catholic mystic (he died in 1992), who was enthralled by bird song Indian ragas and, of course, his unshakable faith.

The first piece The Birds and the Brook featured chirping bird sounds on a single flute stop, and a passage that climbed to the highest note on the keyboard, set off by a low rumbling in the pedals.

The audience got the first real taste of Weir’s considerable skills on the keyboard with the explosive Le Vent de l’Esprit, the final Messiaen offering, which had Weir scrambling all over the place. This was the first time she really opened up the towering instrument, which is capable of some glorious sounds, and offered some of the most rewarding music of the evening.

From there Weir dipped into the late Romantic repertoire with an excerpt from Charles-Marie Widor’s fifth organ symphony, an Allegro Vivace. The work was repetitious, more a theme and variations, but Weir tossed if off with flair and confidence, and turned it into a real crowd pleaser. Two works by Louis Vierne, who died the same year as Widor, 1937, were little more than filler. The Evening Star didn’t develop into much and the Hymn to the Sun was pretty predictable.

But the Cesar Franck Choral in A Minor was one of the finest selections on the program. Weir took the rippling passages in the opening at a blistering clip, and found a nice contrast in the hymn-like sections. But it was the ending that was truly impressive, the way she built the piece, kept up the intensity and let it soar.

It was among the most dramatic moments of the evening, a first-rate performance of a wonderful composition.

Weir ended with an encore that this listener couldn’t place. But before that she tore through a Toccata by Marcel Lanquetuit (1894-1985) that was unrelenting, a driving score that literally pulled out all the stops.

cgray@projo.com